Pharmacological modification of ATP-dependent microglial activation in a disease model of ALS

Acute or chronic damage of neuronal tissue leads to microglial (MG) activation which is a multistep process involving morphological changes, release of pro-inflammatory substances, proliferation and migration to the affected sites of the brain. Purines as soluble factors are implicated as candidates for the chemotactic attraction of microglia by activating ionotropic P2X and metabotropic P2Y receptors (R). Earlier experiments on transgenic mice carrying the human mSOD1 gene presented evidence that MG cells significantly contribute to disease progression in the later phase of disease and coinciding upregulation o…